Tennis-Open-Chakvetadze happy to dispatch Paszek

NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia advanced to her third grand slam quarter-final of the year by beating 16-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-1 7-5 on Monday to reach the last eight at the U.S. Open.

Paszek fought off a match point with Chakvetadze serving at 5-4 in the second set and broke to make it 5-5. The 20-year-old Russian broke right back and held serve to claim victory in 78 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

Chakvetadze, who lost in the quarters at the Australian and the French Open to Maria Sharapova, advanced to a quarter-final test against Israeli Shahar Peer.

The Austrian teenager, ranked 41st in the world, also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in her first season in the grand slams.

The Russian rocketed in 20 winners to just eight for Paszek but was impressed with her opponent, who needed treatment during the match for her bandaged left thigh.

“She’s only 16 years old, unbelievable,” Chakvetadze told the crowd. “She has a big future.”

Chakvetadze, who has won four tournaments this year, has a 2-1 edge in meetings with Peer though she lost their last match, in the round of 16 this year at Indian Wells.

“She killed me in practice before the tournament, so I don’t know how we’ll play,” the Russian said.